Tide or wave motor.



No. 870,706. PATBNTED NOV. 12, 1907. H. P. WOODARD. TIDE 0R WAVE MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16, 1906. BENEWED APB. 15, 1907.

v HIRAM P. WOODARD, OF DOUGLAS, ARIZONA TERRITORY.

TIDE OR WAVE MOTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 12, 1907.

Application filed February 16. 1906. Serial No- 301.421. 'Renewed April15, 1907. Serial No. 368.247.

To aLL whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, Hman P. WooDaRD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Douglas, in the county of Cochise, Arizona Territory, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tide or Wave Motors; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the'same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in tide or wavepower motors, and the object of the invention is to produce a simple andefficient apparatus comprising a series of floats which are adapted, bythe rising and lowering of the tide or breakers, to cause a rotarymovement to be imparted to a shaft adapted to yfurnish a source ofsupply for various purposes.

More specifically, the invention consists of a plurality of floats eachof which is hollow and provided with a valve-regulated opening, wherebywater may be allowed to enter the float for the purpose of regulatingthe weight thereof, and in the provision of horizontally disposed shaftsto which are keyed ratchet wheels each of which is designed tov bedriven by a pawl carried upon a grooved pulley about which a cablepasses which is fastened to a float, and the opposite end of thecablebeing secied to a counterbalance weight, whereby as the float is raisedby the rising surface of the water, the pawl will turn idly over the lteeth of the ratchet wheel, whereas on the lowering of l the float,motion will be imparted to the shaft by the dog engaging the teeth ofthe ratchet wheel.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichz-Figure l is a side elevation shlowing a series of floats connected to ahorizontally disposed shaft. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, andvFig. 3 is asectional view on line 3-3 of Fig, i.

`Reference now being had to theI details oi the drawings by letter, A, Adesignate a series of piles designed to be driven into the groundunderneath the surface of a body of wateifand the upper ends of saidVpiles have bearings A in which is mounted a horizontally disposed powershaft B. Keyed t'o said power shaft at locations intermediate theseveral piles are the ratchet wheels C, and loosely journaled upon theshaft adjacent to each ratchet wheel is a grooved pulley D, andpivotally mountedxupon one face of each pulley is a dog E designed toengage the teeth of the ratchet wheel C, each dog adapted, as the pulleyrotates in i one direction, to ride idly over said teeth and to engagethe teeth upon the reverse movement of the wheel, thereby tending torotate the sprocket wheel and the shaft to which it is secured.

K, K-designate floats which are hollow and each provided with an openingK in the bottom thereof, and N, N designate open-ended tubes, the lowerends of which are in registration with the openings K, and a valve N ispositioned at the lower end of each of said tubes and adapted to allowwater to enter the tube and fill or partially fill the float. i

O, O designate cables which are fastened each to a float, and each cablepasses over a pulley D and has a counter-weight .I secured to its otherend. A suitable balance wheel Q is fixed to said shaft, and power istransmitted from the other end of the shaft by means of the universalshaft Q with a bar or rod S, whereby the power may be transmitted toother shafts for various purposes. The opposite sides of each float havegrooves K2 to receive the edges of the adjacent piles, thereby servingas guides as the floats rise and lower.

The operation of my invention is as follows. The various floats risingand lowering with the surface of the Water, will cause a continuousmotion to be imparted to theshaft B, the dogs turning idly about theratchet wheels as the floats rise and engaging the teeth and causing theratchet wheels to rotate with the pulleys in a reverse direction as thefloat lowers. By the provision of the valve openings, it will be notedthat the floats may be weighted by the introduction of water, ifdesired, and thereby causing a greater power i to be exerted upon theshaft on the downward movement of the float.

what 1 Claim'is 1 A tide or wave motor comprising, in combination witha` wheels fixed to the shaft, a pawl pivoted to each sheave and havingits free end designed toengage the ratchet wheel, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

HIRAM I. WOODIRD.

Witnesses:

W. S. DrxoN, E. A. VoN Amun.

